Michael Bisping gave his take on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fourth round submission of Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has stated Conor McGregor ‘gave up’ against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 last Saturday, and the choke from Khabib that won him the fight ‘wasn’t even under the chin.’
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in the main event of UFC 229 by fourth-round neck crank, after winning the majority of the rounds before the submission. The Russian shocked many when he dropped McGregor with a right hand in the second round, but it was the wrestling of Khabib that was simply too much for the Irishman to handle on the night.
Speaking on the FOX Sports desk after the fight, Bisping gave his take on the finish.
“Look, what happened towards the end is that Conor gave up, because the choke wasn’t even under the chin; it wasn’t on the neck, but it’s easy to sit here and say he gave up. When you’re tired and when you’ve been pounded for four rounds.” Bisping said. “Let’s not forget that, in that second round, Khabib put it on him bad. When you get to round four, the choke doesn’t need to be perfect, the technique doesn’t need to be perfect. It sucks.” (Transcription by MMA Mania)
McGregor’s biggest criticism has always been his ground game, particularly his submission defence. ‘Notorious’ only has four losses in his MMA career, all coming by some sort of submission, his last defeat before this setback to Khabib was to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.
The win against McGregor meant Nurmagomedov improved his undefeated record to 27-0 on the night. Meanwhile the loss for McGregor means the Irishman is now 2-2 in his last four UFC fights.